'Spectacular' implosion impresses crowds

Cheers erupted from the crowd gathered at the corner of 200 W. North Temple as the former Key Bank tower fell and a plume of dark smoke billowed from the site. Within seconds the smoke had spread to the area where a few dozen spectators watched, some wearing dust masks.

"That was awesome," said Chrislyn Barnes, 26, of Salt Lake, as she quickly donned her dust mask. "I'm very impressed it came down so fast." Her friend, Joel Dayton, called the blast "incredible," as the two watched a replay on their camera. "That's so cool."

Barnes, who works at Deseret Book downtown has been watching the demolition in preparation for the City Creek Center.

"If I'm here I want to see it live," she said. "It's totally a process. ... It's a wonderful project for Salt Lake City. The downtown has great potential.

A few dozen people lined up along 200 West, north of North Temple, for this morning's demolition. Some children climbed a tree to get a better view. A group of students from Brigham Young University waved signs reading "kaboom."

Ryan Lund, 23, saw the implosion announced on TV, and "the news told us not to go, so we said we'll go." Candace Funk, 20, added, "We wanted to say goodbye to the Key Bank building."

Plus the BYU students said they could use some MySpace and Face Book material.

A few spectators were staying at the Radisson Hotel across the street. Becky Kawano, decided to watch after receiving a flier from her hotel indicating there might be a "slight vibration."

"I've never seen a building (imploded) live," she said. "I thought it would be interesting to see."

Mike Ambrose ,58, of Magna was looking for a repeat of the "spectacular" show he saw when the Murray towers went down several years ago.

"They had a water cannon to control the dust, but it went right down the street," he said of that earlier demolition project. As he and his wife, Magdalena, 47, cleared the area following the blast, he smiled, saying, "It was better than the Murray towers."

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E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com